The corporation is giving the Occupy London protesters, who
also have an encampment in Finsbury Square, 48 hours to move
away from land it owns in the vicinity of the cathedral, the
financial district’s most famous church, where more than 200
tents have been put up.

The Chapter of the cathedral, the body responsible for the
church, today agreed to suspend its separate legal action
against the protesters, it said in an e-mailed statement today.

“The alarm bells are ringing all over the world,” Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, said in the statement. “St. Paul’s
has now heard that call. Today’s decision means that the doors
are most emphatically open to engage with matters concerning not
only those encamped around the cathedral but millions of others
in this country and around the globe.”

St. Paul’s, designed by Sir Christopher Wren and completed
in 1710, was closed to worshippers and tourists for six days on
health and safety concerns last month, the first time it had
shut its doors since the German bombing campaign in World War
II. It has since reopened.

Clerical Resignations

Criticism of the church’s handling of the protest prompted
the Dean in charge of the cathedral, Graeme Knowles, to quit
yesterday following the resignation of two other clerics last
week. The Chapter agreed Oct. 28 to take legal action against
the protesters.

Ken Costa, chairman of Lazard International until March,
will head an initiative to “reconnect the financial with the
ethical,” Chartres said in today’s statement. Costa will be
supported by others from the financial district and the church,
including Giles Fraser, who quit as Canon Chancellor of the
cathedral on Oct. 27 on concern violence might be used to remove
the protesters.

The Occupy London protest against bank bailouts, bankers’
pay and cuts in government spending followed the similar Occupy
Wall Street campaign in the U.S. where demonstrators have been
camped in Zuccotti Park near the World Trade Center site since
Sept. 17, calling for greater economic equality. The campaign
has since spread to four continents.

London Protests

The London protests have hurt businesses located near the
cathedral, with sales at Paternoster Chop House near St. Paul’s
and the London Stock Exchange falling 40 percent, manager
Gerhard Jacobs said on Oct. 25. Stores and restaurants in New
York have also reported a decline in revenue.

The issues raised by the protesters at St. Paul’s need to
be properly addressed by the church as a whole and society,
Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual leader of
the Church of England, said in a statement yesterday.

Glasgow City Council is to go to court to try to evict
protesters who have been outside the city chambers since Oct.
15, the British Broadcasting Corp. said on its website. Letters
of expulsion have already been issued.

The municipality wants to resolve the issue ahead of
Remembrance Day commemorations on Nov. 13, spokesman Colin Edgar
told the BBC.